


You Deserve to be Loved [Jaskier/Dandelion x Reader]

by savethebeesknees



Series: The Witcher Collection [1]
Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angsty if you squint but ends with fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Geralt does not give a single shit, It's from my tumblr so @makeitcanoncowards, Jaskier | Dandelion Being a Feral Bastard, Jaskier | Dandelion Being a Little Shit, Jaskier | Dandelion is a Mess, M/M, Mutual Pining, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Other, Reader Pining for Jaskier but he's just dumb, jaskier x reader - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:53:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25545460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savethebeesknees/pseuds/savethebeesknees
Summary: “Feelings for a man that doesn’t care for me back? I would never be that foolish.” You quipped. The thing was, you were that foolish. You had liked Jaskier for weeks now, but he didn’t notice or reciprocate your feelings. In fact, he was so unbelievably unbothered by your existence in general you were surprised he still acknowledged you at all.----Traveling as a monster hunter with Geralt of Rivia and his bard Jaskier/Dandelion was the life of adventure that you wouldn't give up for anything in the world. However, as your attraction for the bard grew as did your distaste in the way he slept around with multiple women. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if he paid you a compliment every now and then - perhaps if he had tried to flirt with you at least once. He didn't, though. And you couldn't help but love him anyways.
Relationships: Jaskier | Dandelion & Reader, Jaskier | Dandelion/Reader
Series: The Witcher Collection [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1851100
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	You Deserve to be Loved [Jaskier/Dandelion x Reader]

He was doing it again, and you felt you throat clench.

You were at a tavern with your traveling companions, Geralt of Rivia and his shadow Jaskier, waiting out a passing storm. You weren’t really complaining about having to take refuge inside, seeing as you hadn’t had a warm meal in well over a week – and it had been even longer since you had slept in an actual bed. Sure, you were used to camping out and living off the earth, but sometimes it was nice to actually – you know – _bathe_. A fact that the men you befriended had elected to ignore at times. Actually, no. Jaskier was probably far cleaner than you, it was Geralt who just let himself be caked in mud and called it a healthy coating of dirt.

You were a monster hunter yourself, though just a human one. Villages were low on Witchers, but a mortal willing to risk it all for a few coins? Now that was something easy enough to come across. Of course, sometimes people took advantage of the fact that you didn’t have superhuman abilities and would try to pass one over on you. But a quick blade to the payee’s throat was incentive enough for them to give you your money.

Then, in the height of you career, you ran into the Witcher while he was working on a hunt. The same one you were, actually. The two of you fought to be the one to kill the beast, since the one who kills it gets the coin. Yet, in your attempt, you both chased it to the edge of a cliff where it jumped and consequently died. It was a ridiculous situation; one that happened to make you friends. You joined him on his hunts after that and then _he_ came along.

‘ _He_ ’ being Jaskier. The one who was up to his usual antics that made your chest tighten. He was working the crowd so that the coin he earned from there would go towards room payments and dinner. You knew that he was naturally charismatic for that purpose, but, when his attention went specifically to a gorgeous redhead, you knew where he would really be spending his night.

“If you keep staring like that, you’ll burn a hole through her head,” Your white-haired companion remarked, breaking you out of your – rather mean – thoughts.

“Good,” You huffed. “Then maybe he’d pay attention to getting us dinner.”

“This is just about dinner?” Geralt raised an eyebrow at you when you whipped your head around.

“Of course it’s just about dinner!” Your voice was raised in defense, and you knew he didn’t believe your claim.

“I was under the impression it was due to your feelings for the nitwit, my mistake.” He took a sip of his beer and looked back at the bard. Who, of which, was now fondling the woman from before, making her blush and laugh obnoxiously.

“Feelings for a man that doesn’t care for me back? I would never be that foolish.” You quipped. The thing was, you were that foolish. You had liked him for weeks now, but he didn’t notice or reciprocate your feelings. In fact, he was so unbelievably unbothered by your existence in general you were surprised he still acknowledged you at all.

Jaskier never flirted with you like he did with literally any other woman the three of you came across. He never once tried to compliment your beauty – instead, focusing on other things. Like how you were extremely adept at killing things, or how you never let anyone get under your skin. He praised you for the same things he would compliment a casual friend for. He wasn’t mean, and his words were only meant to be taken with the utmost respect, but you hated them. Jaskier viewed you as no more than a traveling companion. It made being near each other a warzone; except, you’re the only victim and everywhere is no man’s land. 

When the melodic sound of Jaskier’s lute melted away, you looked up to see he had finished his set and was walking towards your table. The girl in tow. You quickly fixed your gaze back down to your beer, not wanting to watch the two of them grope each other at the table.

“Hello, my dear friends,” Jaskier greeted as he approached, “Here is the coin for dinner. I will be back down after I spend some time teaching Anika how to sing.” He set a small coin pouch on the table and wrapped his arm around _Anika_.

“No one needs to hear about your sex-capades.” You bit at him, refusing to look up, “Just get to it and leave us to eat.”

Jaskier’s smile turned to a deep frown. He tried to mask it when he looked back at the girl in his arms, but the way his brows furrowed at your words wouldn’t leave his face. Geralt noticed the shift in mood and wanted to say something to the two of you, but didn’t want to risk putting you in a worse mood than you were already in. At least Jaskier could fuck away his frustration, you were left to seethe in quiet resentment.

“Something the matter, y/n?” Jaskier asked you, sounding equally offended and irritated. Geralt grimaced as he prodded the situation. If the two of you weren’t so utterly dense then maybe he wouldn’t be sandwiched in the middle of an awkward love feud. But he knew humans tended to be blindsided by their emotions like this and, so, paid an intense interest in his cup.

“Yea the fact that you’re all horned up and still bothering us.” You spat back at him, only causing the situation to escalate.

Jaskier, at this point had removed his arm from around Anika to slam his hands down on the wooden table, “What did I ever do to you, huh?!”

“Wha-“

“Why the fuck do you always say things to me like that?!” Jaskier’s voice rose with his words and it looked as though his eyes had begun to water as well. “Why are you so angry at me all the time? You’re so infuriating!”

“Why do you always sleep with random women?” You shouted back at him, electing to stand up as well. “Better yet, why do you parade them over here and show us that you’re about to get laid?! Do you know how much that hurts me?!”

“Y/n…” Jaskier’s body stiffened.

As you realized what you just admitted, your eyes grew wide and you shot a horrified expression back towards Geralt. He just looked back up at you, noticing the way both yours and Jaskier’s heartbeat began to speed up significantly, but saying nothing in response.

“I… I have to go.” You shoved the table away from you in an attempt to escape. This sent Geralt’s beer flying into his lap and he let out a disgruntled “hey”, but you were already scurrying out the door before you could even feel slightly sorry for it.

"What’s her deal?” Anika looked between the two men, hands on her hips.

"I’m going after her,” Jaskier shoved past her and followed your lead out the door, leaving Geralt and Anika to stare at each other.

"So…” She started after a few moments of silence between them, “You want to…?”

"Yup.” Geralt followed her up the stairs towards her room, turning a rotten situation into one that was, at least, beneficial to him. 

\- 

“Y/n!” Jaskier called out into the night, trying to gauge where you might’ve gone. He would have kept calling for you, if it weren’t for the thug who appeared in front of him with a dagger aimed into his chest.

“Make another noise and I’ll gut ‘ya right where you stand.” The man growled with a drunken slur. Jaskier threw his hands up, shaking both from the chilly air and the knife digging into his clothes.

“Sir, I am sure that we can straighten this all out.” Jaskier’s voice quivered slightly, but overall, he sounded much calmer than he felt. “I have no money on me but-“

“I don’t want your coin, _bard_.” The man choked on the word like it was a curse, “I saw you handling my wife in there. Your grimy hands were all over her.”

“Oh.” Jaskier’s response was barely audible. He’s been in these situations far too often, but if people would just _tell him_ they were married then it wouldn’t be an issue! Okay… It wouldn’t be as _frequent_ an issue.

“I’m going to cut you to ribbons and tie you around every lantern post in town,” The old man growled and raised his dagger over his head, ready to strike.

Jaskier squeezed his eyes shut, readying himself for the assault, but it never came. Instead, he heard an animal-like grunt and then there was silence. Opening his eyes, he watched as you had thrown the man against the inn. Your hands gripped tightly around the man’s throat, a deadly gleam in your eyes.

“Y/n!” Jaskier sighed in breathy relief.

“If you ever-“ You squeezed the thug’s throat tighter, “and I mean _ever_ look in this bard’s direction again, I will kill you.”

The man pried at the back of your hands, trying to get some release. You, however, wouldn’t relinquish your hold until he eventually nodded back at you. You dropped your hands and the man fell to the ground in a heap.

You stood there panting; waiting, with hunched shoulders, for the man to strike again. He, however, elected to be smart for once in his sad, drunken life and scurried away back into the darkness of a sleeping village. Only then, did you let your guard down hang your head low. Your breathing became ragged from exhaustion and all you wanted to do was ignore the world and curl up and sleep. But you knew Jaskier wouldn’t let you get away that easy.

“Are you alright?” Jaskier rushed over to you and pulled your hands to his chest. He rubbed the raw fingerprints around your wrists and kissed them briefly. An action that made the both of you seize up.

“Jaskier about what I said…” You started but didn’t know what to say that would hide the truth.

“Did you mean it?” He was still rubbing soothing circled into your wrists with his thumbs and would not dare look up at you. In case he had misinterpreted something, though he didn’t believe he had. That doubt still dug at the back of his mind.

“Jaskier…”

“Does me sleeping with other people actually… actually _hurt_ you?” He was disgusted with himself. All this time, he would make a show of his bedroom activities to show you that he wasn’t interested, and it had _hurt you._

He believed you hated him, but also felt as though he showed his emotions too plainly on his face. So, he started sleeping around far more frequently than ever before. That way, he could ignore the way your eyes lit up when he told a joke, the way you would snuggle into him during cold nights in the woods – a fact that he never told you about because, for an allotted amount of time, it was nice to believe you were his. He could ignore the pang in his chest whenever you confided in, and held onto, Geralt. Never giving him a second glance.

"More than I can say,” You sighed, pulling your hands out of his grasp. You walked away from him to the edge of a pond nearby. Jaskier followed you blindly, hardly able to believe what you were saying.

"Y/n,” He began as you both sat in the dewy grass by the water, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Do you honestly think I have the courage to do that?” You kept your gaze fixated on a log floating in the middle of the pond, refusing to look at the bard next to you.

"You? You’re the bravest person I know!” He laughed, memorizing the way the moon shone brightly on your face, illuminating your features. You looked angelic. “Hell, I don’t think Geralt is as stupidly brave as you are.”

You huffed in response, but Jaskier kept going:

“Do you realize what you just did for me? You threw a man - at least three times your size – to the ground and basically choked him out. He had a knife, y/n. You’re so stupidly, beautifully brave.”

Jaskier was looking at you dreamily, recalling the way you risked your own safety because he had made another ridiculous mistake.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” You mumbled.

“Don’t do that.” Jaskier’s tone shifted into one that was deadly serious, a sound you hardly ever heard. “Don’t belittle your own actions and pretend they’re simple. You are brilliant.”

“Jaskier stop.” You looked up at him, and only then did he notice the tears glistening against your cheeks.

“What do you mean?”

“Stop giving me hope, okay?” You used your sleeve to brush away the drying tears, “You do this thing where you keep giving me just enough hope to believe that maybe we could have something, but then you go cold and leave me all alone again. Jaskier, I can’t… I can’t keep getting my heart broken every time you go off-“

Your words hitched in your throat as a new flood of tears erupted from you. Your sobs echoed in the empty area around you, and Jaskier wanted to punch himself in the face. He was a fool, the biggest fucking fool to walk the planet. How could he, someone who claimed to know your mind, be so oblivious to the pain you were in because of him. How could he not notice all those times you held onto Geralt with sobs shaking your body and believe them to be from some other source. How _dare_ he?

Without much more thought, he grabbed your shoulder and shoved you into his arms. Your sobs had softened, though weren’t fully gone, as the two of you grasped on to each other for dear life.

"I’m so sorry,” His voice was thick with emotion, “I’m so sorry I was such a fool.”

You sniffed in response, not trusting your own voice. Instead, you grasped onto him tighter; as if, when you let go, he would disappear, and you would wake up from another cruel dream that let you two be together.

“I don’t deserve your tears, y/n.” He whispered, rubbing your back. “I don’t deserve your friendship, I don’t… I don’t deserve you.”

"What?” You drew your head back to look at his face. The face of a man who had just gained and lost everything he could ever want, “What do you mean?”

"Y/n,” He sighed, pulling you out of his arms. “All I’ve ever done is hurt you, right? Why would you still have feelings for me? I deserve to die with an unrequited love, I don’t deserve your constant devotion.”

"Jaskier…”

"Dammit!” He grunted and stood up, “Y/n, I’m so angry with myself. If any other man had made you cry like this I would have him killed, or at least horribly disfigured. I thought I was protecting you from my feelings. I never thought…I never thought someone like you could ever have feelings for… for me.

"I’m a broke bard who follows around other interesting people and steals their stories to make a quick coin. But then, there’s you. You’re intelligent, brave, _so_ fucking gorgeous, and just overall mind-blowingly amazing.” He finished his rant with a huff, turning his back to you.

You stayed sitting in the grass, a dazed look on your face. “You think I’m gorgeous?”

“Is that all you took from that?” Jaskier let out a short laugh in disbelief, “That I think you’re beautiful? Of course I do, I don’t know a single person who would say otherwise.”

“You’ve never told me that before,” You giggled, still dazed. It was a stupid thing to be giddy about, considering everything that Jaskier just said. The thing is, he never once complimented your appearance. You find yourself unreasonably dull and figured he must’ve as well. Seeing as all the women he brought to his bed were beyond anything you could hope to be. “You sleep with women who-who are twenty million times prettier than me I just assumed you would never settle for…someone…like…me.”

Your voice died at the end of your sentence, barely able to utter the last few words as Jaskier turned and his blue eyes pierced into your soul. He looked _angry_.

“What?” He demanded, “You don’t see how beautiful you are, do you?” His voice was rough, but not harsh. Like the anger in his words was directed at himself rather than you.

“It’s just,” You paused to stand in front of him, “I’ve never been told I was pretty.” Your voice was quiet as a mouse. This was the first time Jaskier had ever seen you meek or shy, and he somehow felt honored to be able to see that side of you. It was a side that no one had ever seen before, at least, as far as he knew.

“Y/n, you are the prettiest person I have ever seen. You have had me bewitched since the moment I first laid my eyes on you.” Jaskier took your hands in his and pressed chaste kisses to the knuckles. “If I thought I deserved you, I would have courted you from the very day we met each other.”

"You deserve to be loved, Jaskier. You deserve everything you’ve ever wanted and more.” You took a step closer to him, so your noses just barely brushed against each other.

“Y/n,” Jaskier’s words came out in a breathy gasp, “Are you sure you won’t regret it tomorrow? You won’t regret giving the guy who broke your heart twenty times over a chance?”

"I won’t regret having loved you,” You took your clasped hands, and kissed the back of Jaskier’s palm, “You know no one regrets having loved and been loved. All they do is miss it when it’s over.”

“I don’t want us to ever be over,” He pressed his forehead to yours, closing his eyes, “Don’t talk about it ending when we’ve not even begun.” 

You laughed, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, “I suppose we should start making up for lost time then.”

“I suppose we should.”

**F I N**

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! Thank you for reading my first Witcher imagine!  
> I originally posted this on my tumblr which is just https://makeitcanoncowards.tumblr.com/  
> I'm more active over there so if you wanted to make a request for a Witcher oneshot/imagine I will see it quicker!  
> Okay that's it I hope you all had/have an amazing day


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